The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dahlia plant botanically known as Dahlia variabilis and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Dapalex’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands during June 2005. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Dahlia cultivars that are freely flowering with large flowers and a moderately vigorous, compact-upright growth habit.
The new Dahlia cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Dahlia variabilis breeding selection designated 1814, not patented, characterized by its double-type, medium red and yellow bicolored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, compact-upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is Dahlia×hybrida ‘Cocos’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,045, characterized by its medium yellow-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and vigorous, compact-upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during March 2006 in a controlled environment in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since March 2006 in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.